Slab Leak….

Rockwood

Rockwood

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Fawk me sideways, have a hot water slab leak. Located where it’s surfacing (where the plumbing stubs up in the wall to feed the shower valve). 

So, options:

1. Cut/chip the slab to expose pipe, hope it’s leaking from somewhere near where it stubs up, and repair. 

2. Re-pipe the whole house. PEX or copper still the only way to go? I have some concerns since we redid the bathrooms/kitchen and stucco, so the guest bath and kitchen sink will have to get screwed somehow if I go copper. Not sure if it’s possible to just access through the valance PEX…?

3. Line the existing pipe. I hear this has mixed results. 

4. Set the place on fire and move. Lol. 
 

If I end up re-piping, who here in SD area lays good pipe? :biggrin:

 
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Do you have a tub or shower pan?  If Tub, you could probably remove it, cut the slab repair re-pour concrete,and re install Tub.  If a Pan, then time for a shower remodel may be in your future.

 
My moms house just had a slab leak but house was built in 85 she had the whole house repiped with pex.They cut the drywall and went in from the backside of fixtures and in attic.Its a 2 story home.

 
richard h said:
Is it a post tension slab?
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Nope. 

77charger said:
My moms house just had a slab leak but house was built in 85 she had the whole house repiped with pex.They cut the drywall and went in from the backside of fixtures and in attic.Its a 2 story home.
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Nice. Way I’m leaning as well. Bummer is 2 stubs are on outside walls with nice ass tile on the interior wall. 

HTElectrical said:
Do you have a tub or shower pan?  If Tub, you could probably remove it, cut the slab repair re-pour concrete,and re install Tub.  If a Pan, then time for a shower remodel may be in your future.
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Pan, but the leak is outside of it. Based on where the water heater is, I doubt the plumber went out of his way to run copper under the shower…

But, sometimes people are arseholes. :biggrin:

 
My leak was an inch into the foundation, chipped it out, put a brass screw in it, soldered it up and patched it so far so good..........

 
#1. My slab leak only required a 8" square cut. Simple fix.

 
Repipe the house. If this is this first slab leak, there will be more to follow. Might not happen right away but it will happen. Most track home plumbers back in the day didn't take any care when rolling out soft copper. One little dent, crease or fold in the pipe causes water turbulence and over years will cause leaks. And that's not including electrolysis caused by poorly wrapped piping. 

And get your homeowners insurance involved. No matter what direction you go, the repair and replacement will far exceed your deductible. If you tear up the floor trying to fix it and it turns out to be a bigger problem than you anticipated, they may revoke the claim. Some of these carriers can be real bastards when dealing with them. 

 
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had one chipped out and repaired about 5 years ago, a couple months ago had another 10' away same line (between kitchen and bathroom #1) they just bypassed that section with pex, took a couple hours and $1300.

 
BENCH said:
#1. My slab leak only required a 8" square cut. Simple fix.
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If on outside wall you should also feel the warm out there. I would do the repair from outside and hopefully be the last one you have to deal with. Wondering if being stubbed close to edge of floor contributed to the failure. 

 
There's lots of companies that can repipe your whole house in one day with PEX. Its kind of a trip how little damage is done in most cases. Just a bunch of drywall patches. Copper pipes in slabs are a ticking timebomb. If you are planning on keeping that house for a long time I'd seriously look into repiping it, if not just fix it and cross your fingers. 

 
Surf and Dune said:
There's lots of companies that can repipe your whole house in one day with PEX. Its kind of a trip how little damage is done in most cases. Just a bunch of drywall patches. Copper pipes in slabs are a ticking timebomb. If you are planning on keeping that house for a long time I'd seriously look into repiping it, if not just fix it and cross your fingers. 
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Re-pipe guy's are magicians of the plumbing world.  

 
FASTER DADDY said:
Repipe the house. If this is this first slab leak, there will be more to follow. Might not happen right away but it will happen. Most track home plumbers back in the day didn't take any care when rolling out soft copper. One little dent, crease or fold in the pipe causes water turbulence and over years will cause leaks. And that's not including electrolysis caused by poorly wrapped piping. 

And get your homeowners insurance involved. No matter what direction you go, the repair and replacement will far exceed your deductible. If you tear up the floor trying to fix it and it turns out to be a bigger problem than you anticipated, they may revoke the claim. Some of these carriers can be real bastards when dealing with them. 
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It's a custom home, no tract home.

My understanding is insurance generally doesn't cover cracked pipes unless there's physical damage. Just electrolysis eating the pipe is "sorry, your problem" territory.

If I tear up the floor and it's a bigger problem, I'll punt to a re-pipe, fill the hole I made, and Momma gets new tile in the bathroom (previous owner used nice marble tile for the shower, cheap ass ceramic for the floor).  That's assuming I tear it up. 

Surf and Dune said:
There's lots of companies that can repipe your whole house in one day with PEX. Its kind of a trip how little damage is done in most cases. Just a bunch of drywall patches. Copper pipes in slabs are a ticking timebomb. If you are planning on keeping that house for a long time I'd seriously look into repiping it, if not just fix it and cross your fingers. 
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Ours is a one story, so I assume it'll be easier than most.  

 
Rockwood said:
My understanding is insurance generally doesn't cover cracked pipes unless there's physical damage
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Insurance usually covers the damage that may be caused, but not the item that caused it.

 
Insurance is weird, some cover to access it but not fix it, some to fix it but not access it, most the resulting damages.... Pex is easy , buy the expander tool from milwaukee, redo the house then sell the tool.....If you can fix a buggy, you can repipe a house..... What could go wrong??????????????

 
1. Call plumber and see what your really looking at.

2. Call insurance agent. What ever broke is not covered, everything damaged from what broke and what ever it takes to fix should be covered.

3. If you love your house and plan to stay a long time, repipe. lol

 
richard h said:
Insurance usually covers the damage that may be caused, but not the item that caused it.
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No damage caused other than the hole I punched in the drywall to find it. It leaked into the recession for the shower tub, which has sand around the ABS drain. None of the water left the 3’ area of the shower tub, luckily. Have a fan running on it now, should be dry as a bone in a day or two. 

 
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